Coincidence

16 harmonics and rhythmic kisses There have been numerous attempts to discover patterns in the orbits and periods of the planets. A basic logarithmic graph opposite top shows clear underlying order after Ovendon Roy. A famous system is the 1750 Titius Bode Rule To the series 0, 3, 6, 12, 24, 48, 96, 192 384, four is added, giving 4, 7, 10, 16, 28, 52, 100, 196 388. These numbers fit the planetary orbital radii really quite well except for Neptune. The formula predicted a missing planet at 28 units between Mars and Jupiter and on 1st January 1801 Piazzi discovered Ceres, the largest of the asteroids in the asteroid belt, in the correct orbit. The length of time it takes a planet to go once round the Sun is known as its period. Sometimes periods occur as simple ratios of each other, a famous example being the 25 ratio of Jupiter and Saturn 99.3. Uranus, Neptune and tiny Pluto are especially rhythmic and harmonic, displaying a 123 ratio of periods, Uranus and Neptunes adding to produce Plutos 99.8. Like a whirlpool, inner planets orbit the Sun much faster than outer planets and the table opposite below shows the number of days between two planets kisses, passes or near approaches, properly called synods. Does Earth experience any harmonics Well, we have two planetary neighbours, Venus sunside and Mars spaceside and the figures reveal that we kiss Mars three times for every four Venus kisses 99.8. So an ultraslow 34 rhythm or a deep musical fourth is being played around us all the time 17